Cricket Highlights, 31 Aug: AUS vs ZIM (2nd ODI)

AUS vs ZIM (2nd ODI) – Highlights

Australia and Zimbabwe met in the 2nd of the three-match ODI series early today Bangladesh time. Underpowered Zimbabwe batted first and could not face the Australian bowlers and folded their bags before 100 runs. On the other hand, Australia easily won the match and also won the series. Mitchell Starc won the Man of the Match award for his outstanding bowling. Because of his bowling, Zimbabwe’s lineup collapsed again like in the 1st match.

After winning the ODI series against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe is in a bad state. Zimbabwe was whitewashed at home by a margin of 3-0. This time Regis Chakava’s team was in a more difficult situation after went to Australia.

In the first ODI, they lost by 5 wickets by 200 runs. This time, Zimbabwe was bowled out for only 96 runs. Lost by a big margin of 8 wickets. Australia had to play only 88 balls to win the match. In this victory, the hosts won the three-match series with one ODI in hand.

Australia won the toss and sent off Zimbabwe to bat first at the Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville. In the beginning, the visitors fell under Mitchell Starc’s cannon. The Aussie speedster took their 3 wickets for just 14 runs. Innocent Kaia returned home with only 2 runs after playing 8 balls. He was bold out. Wesley Madhevere leaves the field for 0 runs after falling into the lbw trap. Tadiwanashe Marumani scored only 4 runs off 18 balls.

In Between, Sean Williams and Sikandar Raja who put up a little resistance. But they couldn’t stay in the field for long. Raja got out after scoring 17 runs off 37 balls. He also hit 1 four and 1 six.

Then, Captain Regis Chakabva left the field after scoring 10 runs off 14 balls with the help of 2 fours. Tony Munyonga was dismissed for 10 runs off 15 balls. Then Shaun Williams, who scored the most runs for them, left for the dressing room. He scored 29 runs off 45 balls along with 3 fours. Ryan Burl was caught out for 10 runs from 16 balls with the help of 2 fours.

Besides, Luke Jongwe got out for 1 run, Brad Evans scored 2 runs and Richard was unbeaten for 1 run. In the end, Zimbabwe was all out for 96 runs in just 27.5 overs with 10 runs extra.

Mitchell Starc took 3 wickets for 24 runs in 8 overs for Australia. Adam Zampa took 3 wickets for 21 runs from 3 overs and 5 balls. Cameron Green, who won the man of the match title of the 1st match, took 2 wickets at the cost of only 7 runs in 3 overs. Besides, Josh Hazlewood and Ashton Agar took 1 wicket each.

In response, Australia also lost 2 wickets for 16 runs in the third over of the innings. Pacer Ngarava dismissed David Warner (13 from 9 balls and 2 fours) and Captain Aaron Finch (1 from 6 balls) in between three balls.

But after that, Steven Smith and Alex Carey did not allow Zimbabwe to ride on their heads. They left the field with a partnership of 84 runs. Smith remained unbeaten on 47 and Carey on 26. Steven Smith played 41 balls to score 47 runs. But 38 of his 47 runs came from boundaries, hitting 8 fours and 1 six. And Alex Carey scored 26 runs off 33 balls with 2 fours. In the end, they left the field with 100 runs.

AUS vs ZIM Scoreboard  

Australia – 100/2 (14.4)

Zimbabwe – 96/10 (27.5)

Result – Australia won by 8 wickets 

Player of the match – Mitchell Starc

AUS vs ZIM Playing XIs